Adult literacy (PIAAC, OECD trend basis)

282·change: 1y — · 5y — · 10y —as of 2023A source confidenceborn

What this number says

In 2023, Dutch adults (16–65) scored 282 on the PIAAC literacy scale, on the OECD's long-term trend basis — statistically unchanged from 2012, and among the highest scores of all participating countries. The OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) tests what adults can actually do with written information — three surveys in thirty years (1994, 2012, 2023). This line uses the OECD's own comparability basis: the 2012 survey re-linked to the 2023 scale, with language-barrier respondents excluded from both cycles. On the full 2023 survey including those respondents, the Netherlands scores 279 in literacy, 284 in numeracy and 265 in adaptive problem solving — all well above the OECD averages and in the top five of 31 countries (shared places, per the Dutch national report). Adult skills are the human-capital base under productivity and civic life, and the public debate about 'declining literacy' needs the honest baseline: on the OECD's own trend basis, Dutch adult literacy is statistically flat over three decades — while about 16% of adults are at the lowest levels, which is the real policy problem.

Numeracy 2012 → 2023 (same OECD trend basis; absolute levels not openly published): +7.4 points, statistically significant · Literacy 2012 → 2023 (same basis, incl. OECD linking error): −1.7 points, not statistically significant · Adults 16–65 at literacy Level 1 or below, 2023 (OECD average: 26%): 16% · Adults with low literacy and/or numeracy, PIAAC 2023 national report: 2.2 million (16–65) · ~3 million (16–75)

Read this first

Three survey points in thirty years (IALS 1994, PIAAC 2012, PIAAC 2023) — no annual signal exists. Values are on the OECD's own trend basis: 2012 re-linked to the 2023 scale and language-barrier (doorstep) respondents excluded from both cycles — NOT comparable to the full-survey 2023 headline levels (literacy 279, numeracy 284), which include doorstep respondents first covered in 2023. The 2012→2023 literacy change (−1.7) is NOT statistically significant once the OECD linking error (3.27 score points) is added; OECD advises caution for IALS-era comparisons. Numeracy rose +7.4 points (significant, same basis) but its absolute endpoints are not published openly — stated on the page, not charted. Adaptive problem solving (2023) is a new construct, not comparable to 2012 problem solving. Next comparable point: 2029 (Cycle 2 Round 2).

Adult literacy (PIAAC) — Netherlands

⌇ 2012: IALS (1994) → PIAAC: OECD publishes this long-term comparison itself but advises interpreting IALS-era comparisons with caution · ⌇ 2023: PIAAC Cycle 2 redesign (tablet-based, reading/numeracy components scored into the scale): 2012 re-linked to the 2023 scale — trend tests carry a linking error of 3.27 score points; the −1.7 change is not statistically significant

Source & method

Source	OECD-PIAAC manual:J4
Licence	OECD published data, cited with attribution
Trend method	OLS over last 8 annual observations, 5% significance (MBW convention)
Revisions	None recorded since 2026-07-17. Every retrieval is stored append-only; when the source restates history, the old and new values become comparable here.
Pipeline notes	Built 12 Jul 2026; every value read first-hand twice (research agent + shipping agent) from the Cycle 2 report's free StatLink workbook (stat.link/4zgsuq, Fig 3.5 = Table A.3.23 (L); Fig 3.1 = Table A.3.1) and OECD Skills Outlook 2013 Table A2.2a/A2.6a (NL 2012: literacy 284.0, numeracy 280.3, both S.E. 0.7). No public OECD SDMX dataflow for PIAAC means exists (verified against the full dataflow list) — manual drop is the only machine-readable path. J5 (low literacy) folded in as page facts: 16% of 16–65-year-olds at Level 1 or below (OECD avg 26%); 2.2 million with low literacy and/or numeracy 16–65, ~3 million for 16–75 (PIAAC 2023 national report) — the older '2,5 miljoen' figure is Rekenkamer 2016 on PIAAC 2012, different age band (16+), do not mix.

Raw snapshot (JSON) · every observation keeps its retrieval timestamp and revision history in the public database.

Data table — Adult literacy (PIAAC) (Netherlands)

Period	Value
2023	282
2012	284
1994	286